The reliably hilarious and wonderful writer Grace Dent had a piece in the Guardian last week about breakfasts. Like Ms Dent, I am old enough to remember when orange juice was served alone as a starter, and am also grateful that breakfasts have improv…
Feck eating healthily today, for today is Pancake Tuesday! I made a vat of pancake batter last night (it’s best if it gets to sit overnight) to bring into work, where we’ll be cooking it up in our office kitchen with savoury fillings for lu…
Mmmmmm falafel. There are few things tastier than those little deep-fried balls of crunchiness, and the flavours of the salads and sauces that they come with are pretty special as well. Our reader Becky has helpfully given us a recipe for falafel t…
This is a very tasty, cheap and easy midweek supper containing one of my favourite ingredients, fennel. Unbelievably good roasted. This served two large portions, but would easily stretch to three lunches or lighter dinners. The parsley brings some muc…
I’m determined to find sick and twisted ways of forcing history’s five greatest foods – anchovies, honey, mustard, raspberries, and chicken wings – to live together in one tiny room and swap each other around in surprising combi…
I’m really loving Anissa Helou’s fantastic mezze recipes, as well as the stories on her wonderful blog. She currently has a lovely tale to tell about chocolates made from camel milk. Here’s two more mezze recipes from her excellent bo…
I’ve been watching Jamie Oliver’s New European Series – so far I’ve seen him in Morocco, Spain and, most recently, Greece. This episode was all about simple ingredients simply put together. He went spear fishing, met up with some bee keep…
Bread doesn’t have to mean sandwiches and breakfast toast. As these Nigel Slater recipes show, bread can make a summer salad more substantial or make a side dish more filling.
His ‘Salad of peas, beans and bread’ is an unusual combina…
Vietnamese cuisine is fresh, subtle and really satisfying. Vietnamese lime grilled prawns are a great bbq recipe that is simple but exotic.
I had them at many beachside locations on my Honeymoon in Vietnam. The combined flavours of lime and pepper give…
Well, if like me, you’re planning on having a few over for food and want to serve up some interesting finger food; Arancini are the perfect and elegant bite for when people are standing around with drinks.
They are deep-fried rice balls made from…
Following on from Wednesday’s post on quick and easy recipes that can be thrown together after a hard day at work, here are some more hassle free dishes for you to try.
I have included a couple of desserts that could be thrown together at the end…
I work mostly from home but I have been working quite a bit in the city lately. Living in the sticks and having no car means I have to contend with an epic journey home.
After enduring the longest Dublin bus journey in history (even longer than the 17 …
I experienced an extremely pleasant picnic recently. This wasn’t a ‘hang’ sandwich affair but a proper picnic on a river bank with lots of lovely food and company. It got me thinking about interesting picnic ideas and the best way t…
Peter and I attended a really enjoyable event in Bord Bia the week before last: it was a series of presentations and workshops for Irish food bloggers, organised by Donal Skehan of the tremendous Good Mood Food blog. We were treated to demonstrations…
I’ve given up on risotto (and become progressively worse at making paella).
Risotto is one of those fiddly dishes that, despite being advertised as a quick and easy supper, can so easily go wrong. Indeed, I’ve had serious, violent arguments…
Has anyone noticed how the country is carpeted with dandelions at the moment – it’s totally nuts. They are a controversial weed that bring disdain to those longing for the perfect green lawn and also conjure up strange childhood memories of bedwe…
I was one of the plebs caught up in the travel chaos the other week and marooned abroad because of the plume of ash. An extra week in the sun sounds rather nice doesn’t it? Well it was complete hell and there was no sun in the south of Spain beca…
My sister has just informed me that she has become addicted to lamb. Consequently, she has been inventive in the kitchen again and come up with this little gem, perfect for a light Sunday lunch, if you are brave enough to eat out in the garden (well, f…
My sister has just informed me that she has become addicted to lamb. Consequently, she has been inventive in the kitchen again and come up with this little gem, perfect for a light Sunday lunch, if you are brave enough to eat out in the garden (well, f…
I used to eat big white bags of Dulse as a child in Donegal, and I loved it. Currently, I’m obsessed with Japanese cooking, the benefits of miso and using seaweed. Miso is a fermented product, made from soy bean or barley, and it’s really …
After the excesses of Easter, I am on day two of my eat myself better and happier regime.
Quoting the guy from the Fast Show, “Today I will be mostly eating raw fruit and vegetables.” However, I know that this will not suffice so I’m …
I planned on eating just one Easter egg over the weekend but I ended up eating two giant eggs, gorging myself on cake until I hated myself, and drinking like a sailor.
Now I feel rubbish and to make matters worse I’m off to Spain soon for a much …
I’m told that I make a very good omelette. The “secret” (at least according to my dad, who makes the most gorgeous omelettes containing nothing more than some finely chopped onion) lies in whipping the yolk and white well and adding a…
I’ve been eating a lot of mackerel lately. It is one of the cheapest buys at the fishmongers these days and it is a relatively guilt-free fish too because this little creature is thriving at the moment.
It also tastes delicious and goes great wit…
It was so warm on Monday morning that I had my morning cup of tea in the sun and it was bliss. It has been such a long cold winter, I felt like a cave creature that had just crawled out of the darkness – pasty and squinty-eyed in the bright pure sun. I…
